What's
with the 1:48 scale? Well after years in HO and other scales, 1:48 is the scale I model in these days. Everything in "real life" (or the
"Prototype") is reduced by a factor of 48. Scaling everything down by a factor of 48 results in models that have incredible and very visible detail. Another way to express this scaling is to refer to
it as "quarter inch scale" or O-scale. But that's a very North American view...

In the UK, the scale used for this size of model is 1:43 or 7mm (to the foot). I thought those guys were supposed to be all metric… In mainland Europe, they mostly stick to
ratios and use 1:45. The difference between 1:43 and 1:48 is approximately 10%. Actually, HO-scale really means half-O and so mathmatically, 1:43 is closer to half-O than 1:48 but this would require an
imense quantity of beer to explain properly.

So in On3, "O" refers to the scale but what does "n3" mean? This is easy to explain. Most railroads in Europe and North America etc. operate on what's known as standard gauge i.e. 4' 8½"
spacing between the rails. The "n3" refers to the narrower rail spacing of 3 feet - as used on less traveled short lines where lower construction costs were critical.

While there is a lot of interest in On30 (30" gauge) trains these days, the truth is only a few railroads were built to this standard. 3' (or 36") gauge was far more common with short lines (with
respect to actual track mileage) especially in the era that I am modeling.

In terms of era and place, I'm modeling the North American Pacific Northwest roughly between 1880 and 1920.

The projects opposite will eventually be used on a new On3 layout that I am planning to build in the basement of my home. This layout will be known as the Elk Valley Lumber Co.